How Senators reacted to latest Trump revelations

Republican support for President Donald Trump had been waning leading up to Wednesday’s appointment of a special counsel to oversee the FBI’s investigation into alleged ties between the Trump campaign and Russia.

Several Republican senators had expressed concerns after Mr Trump’s abrupt termination of FBI director James Comey. However the chorus quickly grew louder this week after news broke that Mr Comey had written a memo saying that Mr Trump had urged him to shut down the investigation into the president’s former national security adviser, Michael Flynn.

While calls for an independent special prosecutor fell along party lines, Republicans were more split over expressing support for Mr Comey’s dismissal. No Republicans called for a special prosecutor – though three said it might be on the table – and most GOP senators did not call for any further actions to be taken after this week’s revelations.

Below is the FT’s guide to how Republicans and Democrats lined up on the issue before and after news of the Comey memo broke, starting with members of the Senate intelligence committee, who are conducting their own probe, and the Senate judiciary committee, as the decision to appoint a special prosecutor was made by the US judicial branch.

Senate intelligence committee members

Click on column headers to sort

Senator	Party	State	Expressed some support over Comey dismissal	Called for additional scrutiny this week	Called for a special prosecutor
Roy Blunt	R	MO	Yes	No	No
Richard Burr	R	NC	No	Yes	No
Susan Collins	R	ME	Neutral	Yes	No**
John Cornyn	R	TX	Yes	No	No
Tom Cotton	R	AR	Neutral	No	No
James Lankford	R	OK	Neutral	No	No
James Risch	R	ID	Neutral	No	No
Marco Rubio	R	FL	Neutral	Yes	No
Angus King	I	ME	No	Yes	Yes
Dianne Feinstein	D	CA	No	Yes	Yes
Kamala Harris	D	CA	No	Yes	Yes
Martin Heinrich	D	NM	No	Yes	Yes
Joe Manchin	D	WV	Neutral	Yes	Yes
Mark Warner	D	VA	No	Yes	Yes
Ron Wyden	D	OR	No	Yes	Yes

**Said the option of a special prosecutor should be on the table

Senate judiciary committee members

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Senator	Party	State	Expressed some support over Comey dismissal	Called for additional scrutiny this week	Called for a special prosecutor
John Cornyn	R	TX	Yes	No	No
Mike Crapo	R	ID	Yes	No	No
Ted Cruz	R	TX	Yes	No	No
Jeff Flake	R	AZ	No	Yes	No
Lindsey Graham	R	SC	Yes	Yes	No
Chuck Grassley	R	IA	Yes	Yes	No
Orrin Hatch	R	UT	Yes	No	No
John Kennedy	R	LA	Neutral	No	No
Mike Lee	R	UT	Yes	Yes	No
Ben Sasse	R	NE	No	Yes	No
Thom Tillis	R	NC	Neutral	No	No
Richard Blumenthal	D	CT	No	Yes	Yes
Christopher Coons	D	DE	No	Yes	Yes
Richard Durbin	D	IL	No	Yes	Yes
Dianne Feinstein	D	CA	No	Yes	Yes
Al Franken	D	MN	No	Yes	Yes
Mazie Hirono	D	HI	No	Yes	Yes
Amy Klobuchar	D	MN	No	Yes	Yes
Patrick Leahy	D	VT	No	Yes	Yes
Sheldon Whitehouse	D	RI	No	Yes	Yes*

*Called for independent investigation or independent commission

All Senators

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Senator	Party	State	Expressed some support over Comey dismissal	Called for additional scrutiny this week	Called for a special prosecutor
Lamar Alexander	R	TN	Neutral	No	No
Tammy Baldwin	D	WI	No	Yes	Yes
John Barrasso	R	WY	Neutral	No	No
Michael Bennet	D	CO	No	Yes	Yes
Richard Blumenthal	D	CT	No	Yes	Yes
Roy Blunt	R	MO	Yes	No	No
Cory A. Booker	D	NJ	No	Yes	Yes
John Boozman	R	AR	Neutral	No	No
Sherrod Brown	D	OH	No	Yes	Yes*
Richard Burr	R	NC	No	Yes	No
Maria Cantwell	D	WA	No	Yes	Yes
Shelley Moore Capito	R	WV	Neutral	No	No
Benjamin Cardin	D	MD	No	Yes	Yes
Thomas Carper	D	DE	No	Yes	Yes
Robert Casey	D	PA	No	Yes	Yes
Bill Cassidy	R	LA	Yes	No	No
Thad Cochran	R	MS	Neutral	No	No
Susan Collins	R	ME	Neutral	Yes	No**
Christopher Coons	D	DE	No	Yes	Yes
Bob Corker	R	TN	Neutral	No	No
John Cornyn	R	TX	Yes	No	No
Catherine Cortez Masto	D	NV	No	Yes	Yes
Tom Cotton	R	AR	Neutral	No	No
Mike Crapo	R	ID	Yes	No	No
Ted Cruz	R	TX	Yes	No	No
Steve Daines	R	MT	Yes	No	No
Joe Donnelly	D	IN	No	No	Yes
Tammy Duckworth	D	IL	No	Yes	Yes*
Richard Durbin	D	IL	No	Yes	Yes
Michael B. Enzi	R	WY	Yes	No	No
Joni Ernst	R	IA	Neutral	No	No
Dianne Feinstein	D	CA	No	Yes	Yes
Deb Fischer	R	NE	Yes	No	No
Jeff Flake	R	AZ	No	Yes	No
Al Franken	D	MN	No	Yes	Yes
Cory Gardner	R	CO	Neutral	No	No
Kirsten Gillibrand	D	NY	No	Yes	Yes
Lindsey Graham	R	SC	Yes	Yes	No
Chuck Grassley	R	IA	Yes	Yes	No
Kamala Harris	D	CA	No	Yes	Yes
Margaret Wood Hassan	D	NH	No	Yes	Yes
Orrin Hatch	R	UT	Yes	No	No
Martin Heinrich	D	NM	No	Yes	Yes
Heidi Heitkamp	D	ND	No	No	Yes
Dean Heller	R	NV	Neutral	Yes	No**
Mazie Hirono	D	HI	No	Yes	Yes
John Hoeven	R	ND	No	No	No
James M. Inhofe	R	OK	Yes	No	No
Johnny Isakson	R	GA	Neutral	No	No
Ron Johnson	R	WI	Neutral	No	No
Tim Kaine	D	VA	No	Yes	Yes
John Kennedy	R	LA	Neutral	No	No
Angus King	I	ME	No	Yes	Yes
Amy Klobuchar	D	MN	No	Yes	Yes
James Lankford	R	OK	Neutral	No	No
Patrick Leahy	D	VT	No	Yes	Yes
Mike Lee	R	UT	Yes	Yes	No
Joe Manchin	D	WV	Neutral	Yes	Yes
Edward Markey	D	MA	No	Yes	Yes
John McCain	R	AZ	No	Yes	“special congressional committee”
Claire McCaskill	D	MO	No	No	Yes
Mitch McConnell	R	KY	Neutral	No	No
Robert Menendez	D	NJ	No	No	Yes*
Jeff Merkley	D	OR	No	Yes	Yes
Jerry Moran	R	KS	Neutral	No	No
Lisa Murkowski	R	AK	No	Yes	No**
Christopher Murphy	D	CT	No	Yes	Yes
Patty Murray	D	WA	No	Yes	Yes
Bill Nelson	D	FL	No	No	Yes*
Rand Paul	R	KY	Yes	No	No
David Perdue	R	GA	Yes	No	No
Gary Peters	D	MI	No	Yes	Yes
Rob Portman	R	OH	No	Yes	No
Jack Reed	D	RI	No	Yes	Yes
James Risch	R	ID	Neutral	No	No
Pat Roberts	R	KS	Yes	No	No
Mike Rounds	R	SD	Neutral	No	No
Marco Rubio	R	FL	Neutral	Yes	No
Bernard Sanders	I	VT	No	Yes	Yes
Ben Sasse	R	NE	No	Yes	No
Brian Schatz	D	HI	No	Yes	Yes
Charles Schumer	D	NY	No	Yes	Yes
Tim Scott	R	SC	Neutral	Yes	No
Jeanne Shaheen	D	NH	No	Yes	Yes
Richard Shelby	R	AL	Yes	No	No
Debbie Stabenow	D	MI	No	Yes	Yes
Luther Strange	R	AL	Yes	No	No
Dan Sullivan	R	AK	Neutral	No	No
Jon Tester	D	MT	No	Yes	Yes*
John Thune	R	SD	Neutral	No	No
Thom Tillis	R	NC	Neutral	No	No
Patrick Toomey	R	PA	Neutral	Yes	No
Tom Udall	D	NM	No	Yes	Yes
Chris Van Hollen	D	MD	No	Yes	Yes
Mark Warner	D	VA	No	Yes	Yes
Elizabeth Warren	D	MA	No	Yes	Yes
Sheldon Whitehouse	D	RI	No	Yes	Yes*
Roger Wicker	R	MS	Yes	No	No
Ron Wyden	D	OR	No	Yes	Yes
Todd Young	R	IN	Neutral	No	No

*Called for independent investigation or independent commission

**Said the option of a special prosecutor should be on the table